f
A newly recognized hantavirus in the Asian house rat (Rattus tanezumi) in Indonesia

Affiliations: 11Department of Virology, Infection Biology Research Program, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland
22Ecology and Health Status Research and Development Center, National Institute of Health Research and Development, Jakarta, Indonesia

Hantaviral sequences were recovered from the lung tissue of an Asian house rat (Rattus tanezumi) captured in Serang, Indonesia. Phylogenetic analysis of partial L, M and S segment sequences showed that they belonged to a novel hantavirus provisionally named Serang virus (SERV). Notably, SERV is distinct from the hantaviruses associated with rodents of the species Rattus: Seoul virus associated with Rattus norvegicus worldwide and Gou virus isolated from Rattus rattus in China. Instead SERV appeared more closely related to Thailand virus (THAIV) carried by the great bandicoot rat (Bandicota indica). These results suggest the possibility that SERV originated via host-switching, with a possible scenario of (pre)-THAIV ‘jumping’ from (pre)bandicoots to rats and colonizing this new host species.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers reported in this study are AM998806–AM998808.

Footnotes:

Access Key

FFree content

OAOpen access content

SSubscribed content

TFree Trial content

Join the Society

Join the Society for General Microbiology and become part of the largest microbiology community in Europe. Members receive a range of benefits including a discount on the OpenMicrobiology fee when publishing open access with our journals.